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The Use of Gas Chromatography to Analyze Compositional Changes of Fatty Acids in Rat Liver Tissue during Pregnancy

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Nail alterations during pregnancy: a clinical study.

Seval Erpolat¹, Ayla Eser², Ikbal Kaygusuz²

¹Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, Turgut Ozal University, Ankara, Turkey. soyoral@yahoo.com.

International Journal of Dermatology

|April 21, 2016

Summary

Pregnancy commonly causes benign nail changes like leukonychia and ingrown toenails. While often cosmetic, these common pregnancy nail alterations usually do not require medical treatment.

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Area of Science:

Obstetrics and Gynecology
Dermatology
Nail Biology

Background:

Pregnancy is associated with various cutaneous and appendageal changes.
Nail alterations during pregnancy can cause concern for expectant mothers.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the frequency and types of nail changes during pregnancy.
To document nail alterations in healthy pregnant women between 16-40 weeks of gestation.

Main Methods:

A cohort of 312 healthy pregnant women (aged 18-40) were examined.
Nail examinations were conducted during routine obstetric visits.
Data on nail changes that developed during pregnancy were recorded and analyzed using statistical tests (Shapiro-Wilk, chi-squared).

Main Results:

37.2% of women had no detectable nail pathologies.
Leukonychia was the most frequent change (24.4%), followed by ingrown toenails and onychoschizia (9.0% each).
Nail changes, including leukonychia, onychoschizia, onycholysis, and brittle nails, were more common in later pregnancy (29-42 weeks).

Conclusions:

A significant proportion of pregnancy-related nail changes are benign.
Common nail alterations during pregnancy, such as leukonychia, typically do not necessitate treatment.
Despite being benign, these nail changes can cause significant cosmetic distress.